HYDERABAD:  Thousands of non-local candidates, who are scheduled to sit for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in September, are in a state of panic as they have to travel to Hyderabad amid the pandemic. The JEE is scheduled for September 1 to 6 and the NEET for September 13.

Many students from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, who underwent coaching for the two exams in Hyderabad, had opted for a test centre in the Telangana capital. "I have to travel 420 km from AP to Telangana at such a time when there is no public transport," Jeeven Reddy, a student from Anantapur who was studying in Hyderabad, tweeted.

Bus services between AP and Telangana have not resumed and there is no hope of it starting anytime soon. Officials of the APSRTC and TSRTC held a meeting in this regard at Bus Bhavan in Hyderabad recently but did not reach a conclusion.

Anaya, another student, tagged the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office in her tweet and requested him not to conduct the NEET and JEE during the pandemic. Similarly, Srivalli, another student, tagged IT Minister KT Rama Rao and said, "Many State governments are postponing the JEE and NEET. The Telangana government should also come forward for the welfare of students."